[steppinrazor]

Hello from California, I recently moved from Seattle to the Bay area, and am starting to plan for a long summer backpack, say 7 +/- 2 days. (Planning horizon is much further out here due to permit competition.) I am an experienced backpacker, and can do 10-15 miles per day at Cascade elevations, probably need to de-rate that to 8-12 mpd for high Sierra elevations. My drive window is from Trinity alps down to southern edge of Kings Canyon NP. Looking for some great views and a modicum of solitude. Any recommendations?

[contour5]

The best access points are mostly on the East side, like from Mammoth down through Bishop and Lone Pine. Many roads-some of them paved- lead up to the 9 or 10,000 foot level. Best trip ever: From South Lake (above Bishop), over Bishop Pass, then Thunderbolt Pass, then Potluck and another pass and then S to Onion Valley/ Lone Pine. Absolutely stunning terrain the whole way. Another favorite: Lamarck Col, Darwin Bench, Alpine Col and a high traverse across Humphrey Basin to Pine Creek Pass. The rainbow colored rocks around upper Pine Creek are surreal. The high Sierra is unfathomably beautiful, and the possibilities for cross country travel almost limitless. I'd recommend looking at Roper's "Sierra High Route".

[KevinDo]

Good trip idea^^ Also consider checking out the trip reports on the yosemitenews site. Lots of regulars there who are out every weekend it seems! -Kevin

[thunderhead]

The High Sierra are some of the most beautiful mountains on earth. There is a wide range of trails in that area... I'd say just grab a set of trail maps, find a loop in the mileage range you desire, and explore them all! Theres a lot of interconnecting possibilities. I just did a ~7 day loop, doing the first half of the high sierra trail starting in SNP and then looping back on the next trail to the south. Gorgeous. Your just not going to find a "bad" view or trail in the main spine of the Sierra.

[Malachai Constant]

The only places where the permits are burdensome are the JMT and Whitney Portal. Yosemite Valley is always crowded but spectacular. I have followed the PCT from Donner Pass to south of Whitney in the last two years. I lived at China Lake and have done many of the trails in the Southern Sierra and over the years much of Ropers Sierra High Route. There are many routes which are not shown on maps and cross country is much easier than in the Northwest due to lack of brush. Information is harder to come by. This spring the snow will linger as compared to the years since 2011 the last big snow year. The High Sierra Trail is seldom crowded. In 2015 fires were awful. Mozzies can be a problem is July but I have had success with permithium treated sunware. It is a huge area and difficult to summarize in a post.

[Sculpin]

Your "drive window" implies the west side of the Sierras. Those are long access trails with a lot of elevation gain to the high country. Better to start on the east side as others have attested. One hike that is in your drive window is the PCT north out of Dunsmuir. The scenery is not quite as spectacular as the high Sierra, but is nevertheless quite good and much more diverse. Solitude on any side trip off the PCT is guaranteed.

[steppinrazor]

Drive window would include some of the eastern trialheads, say down to Bishop, and maybe could extend as far as Lone Pine, so please don't limit yourselves.

[Malachai Constant]

Some of the Western Gateways look short but are problematic. Kaiser Pass looks like it goes as a paved road to the heart of the Sierra at Edison Lake but is a fabled horrible road of character. 20 miles of blind corners and steep narrowness 10 mph much of the way probably faster to go over Donner Summit and down 395 to Mammoth or Tioga Pass. Mineral King is famous for the brake line eating porcupines that cause many to put chicken wire around their cars.

[Highsierraguy]

Drive up over Kaiser Pass on 168. Head into the John Muir Wilderness from around Edison lake or Florence Lake areas. Look into Bear Lakes Basin, Granite Park, Medly Lakes, Piautte Canyon, Goddard Canyon, Graveyard Lakes and Margarette Lakes. You'll find all the solitude you want there.

[Malachai Constant]

[Highsierraguy]

Golden Trout on every cast

[Langdon Greene]

I hope you know of this site: http://www.highsierratopix.com/ Lots of great ideas there. (It's essentially the NWHikers board of the Sierra) A couple of awesome week-long routes can be done in the Trinity Alps, and Marble Mountains too.

[steppinrazor]

Thanks to all for the recommendations, especially Mr. Green's mention of the high sierra topix page. I had found that before, and recognized it for a CA version of NWhikers but didn't bookmark it. With the limited amount of hiking I have done so far, (1 summer, and only 4 overnight trips)I am finding hiking in CA to be much different than in WA, and not just the because of the terrain. There are a disproportionate number of people in the mountains here, probably because a) proximity to very large population centers and b) there are many more easy access points to many of the good hikes. I'm hoping that if I can get far enough away from the road, the traffic will drop off. I'll report back on my adventures. Thanks again for your help.

[KevinDo]

You'll be able to find less traffic in SEKI . Generally takes more than a day on trail to reach the beautiful areas so that turns off a lot of folks. There's also lots of options in Yosemite that are away from the crowded areas. I'd highly recommend High Sierra Topix for all non-Yose trips in the SIerras and Yosemitenews for yose-based trips. -Kevin

[Highsierraguy]

If you start from Edison or Florence Lakes at the end of hwy 168 I garauntee you'll be far away from crowds.